Cal La Iaia is one of the Society’s favourite venues and 69 members and guests assembled to taste five wines presented by Bodegas Arzuaga Navarro founded in 1982 by Florentino Arzuaga.   The company owns a number of bodegas principally in the Ribera del Duero.   The presenter was Javier Navarro Belzunce, the commercial director, who proved himself a skilled presenter in several languages.

All the wines tasted are available from A Catarla Todo in Teulada at the prices shown.   A discount of 10% was offered for any wines ordered during the evenings tasting.  The average scores awarded by society members to each wine are shown in red. 

The first wine was Fan D’Oro, a 2012 100% chardonnay which had spent 12 months in French oak.   Because the DO of Ribera del Duero does not allow white wines to use the designation of the DO, this wine is classed as a vino de mesa   The Guía Peñin describes the wine as having a brilliant golden colour with a powerful aroma of ripe fruits, nuts, toasty and woody, tasty and long in the mouth.   With an Alcohol by Volume (ABV) of 13.5%, it awards it 90 points and excellent value for money at 7€.   Members awarded an average score of 78.8

The second wine tasted was Arzuaga Rosae 2013 a rosado made from Tempranillo grapes grown in their vineyard at Quinta de Onésimo in the heart of Ribera del Duero.   Arzuaga have produced rosado in the past, but this wine was a new venture for the Bodega and the wine had been released only two weeks previously.   With a production of only 3,000 bottles, the Society was honoured to be given this wine for tasting.   It had a very pale colour, known in Spanish as piel de cebolla.   Too new to be rated by any of the wine guides, it had an ABV of 14% and costs 12.50€. Members awarded an average score of 82.5

This first red was La Planta 2012 Tinto a 100% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo).   The wine is from vines over 20 years old grown in the bodega which gives the wine its name and is located at Quintanilla de Onésimo at an altitude of 900 metres.   Having reached the peak of maturity the grapes are harvested by hand into boxes of 15kg and then the best bunches are chosen from a selection table.   Cold maceration takes place at 25ºC and the wine spends six months in French & American oak.   The wine was deep cherry red with purple flashes denoting the wine’s youth.   14.5% Alcohol by Volume (ABV), the wine received 89 points in the Guía Peñin and retails at 7.95€ which was rated as very good value for money.   Members awarded an average score of 85.6

In 1997 Florentino Arzuaga, looking for new land to expand his olive groves found a farm, Finca de Solana, in the centre of a vineyard whose production was destined to become a Vino de Pago: Pago Florentino, of which the 2009 Tinto was our fourth wine for tasting.  To date there are 15 Vinos de Pago granted by the Autonomous Communities of Aragon, Mancha, Valencia and Navarra (See note below on Vinos de Pago).   The bodega Finca Solana is situated in the Municipality of Malagón, Cuidad Real (Castilla-La Mancha) and this much sought after recognition was granted to Pago Florentino in 2009.  Harvesting and grape selection is meticulous, the whole grapes undergo cold maceration and after this process the liquid goes into barrels where Malolactic fermentation takes place.  The creation of a Crianza is done in 225 litre barrels of French oak, and the wine is then bottled without filtration or clarification. The wine is 100% Cencibel (Tempranillo).  Costing 12.05€, the Guía Peñin classes the wine as good value for money and gives it 90 points.   Members awarded an average score of 88.2

The final wine was a Tinto Arzuaga Reserva de Familia 2008, 95% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The wine is from the same bodega as the La Planta and the grapes are also carefully harvested, but packed in 5kg boxes and then sorted on a selection table.   Cold maceration takes place for some days in small tanks and fermentation at about 29ºC.   It is then matured in French oak barrels for 26 months.   The wine has an intense and brilliant red ruby colour, with an elegant fruity nose.   It has an ABV OF 14.4%, is given 88 points by the Guía Peñin and costs 24.5€.   Members awarded an average score of 88.0

The evening ended with a vote of thanks for the presenter proposed by the society Vice President Tim Fawle.

Vino de Pago or VP was introduced into Spain in 2003. The Pago concept represents not just a new rung on the Spanish wine classification ladder, but also an entirely different method of classifying quality. Pago means an estate, especially when planted with vines or olives, so the simple explanation of what constitutes a DO Pago is that it is a single estate wine. The more significant judgment rendered by DO Pago status is that the estate can exist outside of an established DO. The wine from a DO Pago must be wholly created and bottled within that domain quality.   Each DO Pago is allowed to set its own rules, the grapes used, and the methods of viticulture, vinification, and aging, providing a flexibility not previously seen in Spanish wine law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text and Photos by Gaby Ferenczy                   21 March 2014